ISSN: 2641-1911 DOI: 10.33552/ANN.2019.04.000585 Archives in Neurology & Neuroscience Review Article Copyright © All rights are reserved by John-Adubasim Ijeoma C Dyslexia, Neurodevelopmental Conditions and Comobidity: A Rule Rather than an Exception John-Adubasim Ijeoma C* and Ugwu Chinelo J Department of Educational Psychology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria *Corresponding author: John-Adubasim Ijeoma C, Department of Educational Received Date: July 01, 2019 Psychology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Published Date: July 15, 2019 Abstract Different neurological Conditions that result from a disorder in a particular part of the brain may co-occur. Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which is neurological in nature and comorbid with other neurological conditions. Several studies have shown that this apparent co- occurrence is thatexpected assessments between for dyslexia, these conditions Dyscalculia, should Dysgraphia not be made as well in isolationas Attention to rule Deficit off misdiagnosis Hyperactivity and Disorder enable proper(ADHD) support and Autism and treatment. Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This article considers the various definition and literature on the existence and comorbidity of these conditions. It is therefore recommended Keywords: Dyslexia; Dyscalculia; Dysgraphia; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Autism spectrum disorder Introduction children receiving special support in Calgary, students diagnosed Dyslexia is a neurological condition that is evident in how for dyslexia had 51.6% chance of having other disorders; those people read. Dyslexia may co-occur with other neurological diagnosed of ADHD had 80.4% chance of another disorder. conditions. Individuals with dyslexia may also present a co morbidity of other learning disabilities, some of which includes; Dyslexia dysgraphia (dyspraxia) and dyscalculia. It can also co-exist with; anxiety, depression, obsessive or compulsive disorders [1]. Most Dyslexia simply means difficulty with words. Dyslexics have dyslexia (Research into Dyslexia Provision in Wales, 2013). There is difficulty acquiring the necessary skills for the effective reading, children with specific language impairment (SLI) show signs of persistent even when they have the necessary cognitive abilities also evidence of high overlap between dyslexia and; Autism, ADD/ spelling writing and pronunciation of words. These difficulties are ADHD, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and general learning impairment. A a complex neurologically based condition which may last a lifetime school based research by Kadesjo and Gillberg [2] indicated that and exposure to adequate instructions (IDA, 2008). This disorder is depending on its type and severity, making the dyslexic experience 40% of children with ADHD showed reading problems and 29% lack of academic progress, lowered self-esteem, depression and anxiety [6,7]. Ikediashi [8] citing Martin, Carlson & Buskist [9], sees writing problems. There is Strong evidence that children with dyslexia as a disorder that is associated with reading, writing and ADHD and Reading Disorder show typical deficit in rapid naming spelling impairments. Olson (2002) [10] opines that poor reading underlies the link [3]. speed, so it may be interpreted that a processing speed deficit There is evidence of a high overlap between symptoms of different environment does not constitute dyslexia. ability which is linked to deficient instructional and or home developmental disorders and dyslexia [4,5]. In the case of Dyslexia is a reading, spelling and writing disability, implying developmental disorder co morbidity is a rule not the exception’ that dyslexics will rarely be excellent in tasks that involve lots of [5]. This means that it is expected that developmental disorders will have lots in common and can coexist, this occurs more often tailored to learn differently. They are better with learning tasks that than been an exception. In a study involving a sample of 179 reading, writing and spelling [11]. Succinctly put, dyslexics are This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License ANN Page 1 of 5 .MS.ID.000585. Archives in Neurology and Neuroscience Volume 4-Issue 2 have little to do with writing, spelling and reading. National Institute problems, which affect 3–5% of students. It presents in inattention, of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) agreeing with distractibility, hyperactivity and impulsivity [1]. that is neurobiological in nature. This they believe is characterized (Lyon, 1995) posits that dyslexia is a specific learning disability by lack of accurate and fluent word recognition, poor spelling and decoding ability. It is defined as a specific learning difficulty skills. Irrespective of access to appropriate learning environment, affecting the acquisition of fluent and accurate reading and spelling spelling skills are basic skill to learning and academic achievement. these difficulties still present themselves. Reading, writing and The difficulty experienced by people with dyslexia ranges from mild to severe and depending on the degree of difficulty experienced reading, spelling and writing skills a drop in academic achievement by the person, frustration is eminent. When a pupil is deficient in is resultant [6]. According to IKediashi [8] it is a learning disability Figure 1: Overlap between developmental disorders (Kaplan et that affects a child’s reading, spelling, writing and speaking ability. al, 2001). IDA, (2008) posits that about 30% of students living with Thus a concept manifesting in a continuum of specific learning spelling and or writing. In their view Dyslexia can be understood difficulties related to the acquisition of basic skills in reading, from behavioural, neurological and cognitive perspectives. dyslexia also have attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD presents in three remain on task for long periods, lack of response to instruction or subtypes; firstly, this is manifested in children as; inability to The National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke [12] as a disorder that impairs a person’s ability to read which can visibly of hyperactivity and impulsivity which is evident in wriggling, views dyslexia from a neurological perspective. It defines dyslexia easily distracted [29]. Secondly ADHD can also present symptoms decoding, orthographic coding and auditory short term memory. manifest as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological squirming, being unable to sit still for long, interrupting and According to the international panel of experts and consultants, doing things usually in inappropriate situations when free to do finding it difficult to wait for turns. They are always on the move the dyslexia consultancy e-team, dyslexia is a neurological so. Thirdly, it can be a co-existence of attention and hyperactivity condition which is often inherited and can last a lifetime. This is issues with each behaviour occurring before the age of seven [15]. to say that there is notable difference in brain structure in pupils The capacity to selectively scrutinise information (attention) and to with dyslexia, compared with the brain of non-dyslexics, [13]. preserve that information in an available state (working memory) Elias [6] asserts that amongst the learning disability population, are important aspects of a person’s cognitive competence. There is a close interaction and overlap between these two constructs especially during encoding and manipulation of information [16]. reading difficulty is the most prevalent affecting about 80% of the in the phonological component of language. This is not expected The ability to perform some complex tasks depends critically on population. This disability results from poor development or deficit with good cognitive ability and where the class room instruction the capacity of the person to scrutinize, select and preserve the relevant information for such tasks in a retrievable state in the working memory. Awh, Vogel and Oh [17] are of the view that the is effective. Pupils who have dyslexia have difficulty with accurate spelling and decoding. Poor reading experience, lack of practice can relationship between working memory and attention is dependent and fluent word recognition. They also experience problems with as well affect vocabulary and reading comprehension [14,9]. on the stage of attention and type of the information available in the working memory. Attention is the process of selection of some Dyslexia and ADD/ADHD information at the expense of other information. The stage at which ADHD is also known as Hyperkinetic Disorder. The relationship attentional selection occurs has been greatly debated. While some schools of thought are in strong support of the notion that attention ADD/ADHD and dyslexia run in families and can be inherited. between ADD/ADHD and dyslexia is scientifically evident. Both Genetics play a role in about half of the children diagnosed with support for the notion that attention can affect late perceptual can affect early perceptual processing others show equally strong AD/HD. For the other half, research has yet to identify a cause. processing [16]. This invariably indicates that there could possibly Regarding dyslexia, about one third of the children born to a dyslexic be more than one form of attentional selection [18,19]). There are parent will also likely be dyslexic. Dyslexia is a neurologically three attention network that perform distinct roles; i) alerting based condition,